Be You (Just in a Different Way)
by thelinksthatconnectus
Summary: Krista just wants to be Krista, the new girl with an unknown past at a new school. Everyone wants a fresh start, and Krista won't let her chance to get one pass her by. Ymir is a girl who just wants to find a little fun in her otherwise boring life. The cute, short new girl is definitely someone worth hanging around. Yumikuri high school AU
1. Chapter 1

It was only when she was in her new homeroom, her backpack opened wide and various items taken from it and put on her graffiti free desk, did she notice just how new everything was. Last year, her folders had pictures of animals and cartoon characters on them, and were made of a plastic like material. This year, they were much simpler, made of thick paper and monochrome colors. Her pencils were mechanical rather than wooden, and her notebooks were thicker than the year before. Not a single piece of paper in them had been touched yet, covered in messy drawings or her tiny, loopy handwriting.

The backpack was new as well, something that she had picked up last minute without looking very closely at it. The size had been what had mattered, and it certainly was large. Looking closer, she saw that though it was black, it also had patches of various dark grey areas.

Just like the high school that she had moved to, everything else was new. Krista took a (brand new) black Sharpie from her bag and began to write her name on the front cover of her new folders and notebooks. She wrote far larger than normal, making sure that whoever saw her notebooks and folders knew exactly who they belonged to.

Her homeroom teacher, a history teacher named Ms. Ral, seemed nice. She was only Krista's homeroom teacher, but she was quite nice; whoever had her for history was very lucky.

Once Krista had finished putting her name on everything that she possibly could, she put everything back in her backpack where it belonged. Later on, once she had an idea of what she needed, she could put some stuff into her locker.

The paper listing her classes was already crinkled. She bit her lip. If this were to start to rip or fade, then she would need to get a new one from the office; the teachers had all been told to only print one. She didn't want to go to the office, even if she wasn't in trouble, and she wasn't sure of how quickly she would memorize the rooms of her classes.

The rest of the students in her class were either busy texting, talking, arguing, or scribbling away in their notebooks. No one seemed to notice her, too caught up with their own situations.

The bell rang.

"Remember to stay orderly in the hallways, student." Ms. Ral said. "I hope that you all have a good first day as sophomores."

Yeah right, Krista thought. Once most of these guys are out of here, they'll probably stampede through the hallway. With my luck, I'll just end up getting run over.

She put her backpack on and clutched the straps tightly. This was probably going to be a day to remember.

* * *

HELLO STUDENTS, WELCOME TO THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR! IT'S GOING TO BE LOADS OF FUN!

As if, Ymir thought, her eyes straight on the bright yellow poster above the water fountains. It was covered in multicolored text and smiley faces.

School was a lot like work - it just had to be done. Ymir would do it because there was nothing else that she could do, and she would be damned if she didn't try to get at least some enjoyment out of it.

Still, the kind of fun that Ymir wanted probably was not the same that the poster offered. It had probably been made by some senior desperate to say that they helped the school in their college applications. She gave it four days max before someone took it down, and that was if the tape lasted that long.

So, she thought, think anything amazing will happen to you this year? One of those wonderful moments like in teen movies?

The best part about having mental conversations with herself was that she could reply with anything that she wanted and not get in trouble for it. Most of the time, Ymir would tell herself the truth; still, it was fun to tell herself some bullshit every once in a while.

Oh yes, she thought. This year will be fucking fabulous.

She took one last look at the eye burning yellow poster before leaning down and getting a quick drink of water. By then, the words were memorized in her mind.

* * *

Krista was quite sure that Professor Zoe was going to be her favorite teacher. They were her biology teacher, and their room wasn't covered in the typical teacher brand posters. Instead, magazine and newspaper articles were taped to the walls, along with pictures of animals and insects in various stages of life. They dressed rather casually, and usually were not strict. Only one thing really seemed to bother them, and it was one thing that Krista would never do.

"Professor Zoe, should I use Ms. or Mr.?" a student had asked.

Professor Zoe had frowned. "The term is professor."

"But-"

"The term is professor and professor only."

They had explained how the semester would go, describing various projects and experiments. All of them sounded better than writing papers, and they offered extra credit the very first day. In return for volunteering to clean out their lizard's (named Sonny and Bean) cage every Wednesday, Krista would get fifteen points extra credit each week. She wasn't bad at biology, but she wasn't about to let those practically free points slide away from her.

A dark haired girl came over and sat down beside her. "So you signed up to deal with the lizards too?"

"Oh," Krista said, looking down to her new biology textbook on her desk. "Uh, yeah."

Until then, no one had tried to make conversation with her.

"I could definitely use it. I'm not a big science person."

"Me, I am."

The girl nodded. "So you're Krista, right? Or did I hear the roll call incorrectly?"

"Oh, that's me. And you are?" Unlike the girl, she had only been listening for her name.

"Ymir's the name." She smiled. "I'm guessing that you're new here; I didn't see you last year."

"Yeah, I'm new."

"Where did you move from?"

"It's out of town; you probably never would have heard of it."

Ymir did not question her on the name further. "So, what do you think of Shingashima High?"

"I actually haven't seen all of it yet."

"What do you mean? Didn't you get a personal tour or something, or at least a senior guide?"

Krista shook her head. "I had to find this room myself; they should have also given out maps."

Ymir frowned. "Damn, the school was pretty inconsiderate. Do you want some help, maybe a tour? I know the way around, and I'm glad to give help."

"I'll see." Krista looked down to her schedule. "Thank you."

"Okay." Ymir smiled once more. "And hey, I'll be ready to see you Wednesday afternoon."

* * *

All in all, it had been an okay day. Krista had befriended Ymir (or at least she hoped she had), and also sort of made herself friends with Ymir's friends Sasha and Connie. They had all sat together at lunch. Krista had spent most of it nibbling away at the sandwich that she had brought from home; luckily, the others could fill in for her on their conversations.

The rest of her classes had at least showed promise. No one recognized her, which was good, and everyone called her Krista. It was a perfectly blank slate.

Already, she was stepping into the shoes of Krista Lenz, and no one at school knew her as anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

Krista's ponytail flew through the wind as she rode her bike home. The air was still warm, and would probably lead into a warm autumn. The edges of leaves were just beginning to change color.

Before school had started, Krista had learned the side roads to ride to and from school by heart. Avoiding traffic had become easier, and she had learned more about the new area of town.

Still, her stomach twisted when she rode up in front of her home. Her mother's silver Honda was out front.

Of all the days to get home early, Krista thought, why today?

She got off her bike and walked it to the garage. The inside was mostly empty, save a small table in the furthest right corner to hold tools. She parked her bike up front by the stairs, leaving room for her father to park his car.

Her hand shook as she unlocked the garage door leading into the kitchen, and it took her a few tries to get the key into the lock.

The kitchen was empty when she got inside, but the smell of food engulfed it. Something was in the oven.

"Historia, is that you?" her mother called.

"Yes." She adjusted the weight of her backpack. "You're home early."

Her mother, though it was hard to call her that, entered the kitchen. She had yet to change from her work clothes. Rachel Reiss was tall and dark haired, always standing up straight and exerting confidence. No one questioned her role as a CEO, nor did they doubt the power that she held. Her ebony hair was completely straight and her makeup perfect. There was not a single wrinkle on her suit.

And as much as Lod wanted Krista to think more of her, she just could not.

"I'm home."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "School has yet to stop you from saying the obvious."

For a moment, Krista looked up to her. She kept waiting and waiting for a question or another statement. Instead, the older woman remained silent. The longer Krista stared, the harder Rachel's glare became.

"I'm going to my room."

Rachel nodded.

Compared to the rest of the house, Krista's room was small. It was not nearly as fancy, nor did it have much style. It had no wallpaper (though Krista had started to stick movie and video game posters to make up for the blankness), only a beanbag and a mattress to serve as furniture, and a small closet. Compared to the mansion, it seemed like a forgotten room that never should have been built.

Maybe that was why it was the perfect place for her.

Rarely did anyone come in, leaving Krista in peace. It was always quiet, meaning that she could read her library books and do her homework in peace. There was also a good Internet and phone signal.

Turning on her laptop, Krista looked around the room. It wasn't perfect, but it was her own place.

Once her laptop had turned on, she got on the Internet and went to her blog. Rather than posting about about her life (who would want to hear about that?), she posted book reviews. Occasionally, whenever she saw a movie trailer for something that looked good, then she would go to a nearby theater and then later post a movie review.

She had gotten two new comments on her newest review of the latest Levi Rivaille novel.

tightans49 commented: Thanks for this review! I was really nervous that this book would be awful, just a way for the author to cash in on their previous success, but you helped to reassure me. I'll definitely be picking this up.

Krista grinned. It had certainly been an exciting book.

fighterstyle17 commented: This review rocked. The jokes peppered in between were hilarious; I'm glad that someone enjoyed this as much as I did. Still, I'm nervous about the upcoming movie.

There was going to be a movie?

Quickly, Krista got on Google.

Well, a couple months from now it seemed that she would be posting another movie review.

* * *

The library was mostly empty. The librarian, a tall, dark skinned woman had said hello to her when Krista walked in. Krista had waved.

The book selection was pretty decent. A number of books looked rather old, but they could still be read. Parking herself by the hardcover fiction section, Krista immediately got to looking for something to read.

She hadn't expected to finish her book last night. She had been sure that something would come up to take her away from her book, but nothing had. If Lod wanted to hear about her first day of school, then he did not mention it.

A review was still in the works, but she would not start working on it again until after school. A book would help to shorten the day.

"Want some help?"

Krista froze, her eyes glued to the books in front of her.

"Actually, forget that, I barely know what's in here. I definitely don't know what that Doay De-"

"Dewey Decimal System?"

"Yeah, that. Thanks, Krista. Sorry if I accidentally scared you."

Turning back, Krista looked to Ymir. She had her own backpack with her, along with a brown paper lunch sack in one hand.

"I was looking for you."

"Why?" Krista's voice shook.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were still up for cleaning out Professor Hanjii's lizards' cages this afternoon. It is a Wednesday."

Krista nodded. "Of course."

"Okay, just checking. Some students skip on that stuff."

"It's only the second day of school; it's not like I'm drowning in homework yet."

Ymir smirked. "Me neither. See you at lunch again, Krista?"

She nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

For the first time in her life, Ymir actually gave half a shit about washing her hands (her mother would have been so proud if she knew). She washed them three times under hot water, getting as much of the lizard germs off of her as possible. Those things could have been covered with germs, the kind that carried diseases that only scientists knew how to pronounce.

She didn't want those things on her hands while she ate pizza.

* * *

Ymir waved to Marco. "Hey, dude," she said.

Marco smiled at her. He was wearing an already dirty apron and had his eyes fixed on his phone. "Hi, Ymir, it's good to see you. You're lucky to come here around this time. We've settled down a bit from earlier, but your friends are still here."

"Sweet," Ymir responded. She hitched her thumb to the back of the restaurant. "I'm gonna take a wild guess that they're over there. Am I right?"

Marco looked up at her and nodded. "Just like always."

Ymir turned around.

"Wait."

Slowly, she turned around.

"My parents are making some fresh cinnamon sticks back in the kitchen. Want me to get you guys some?"

Ymir nodded. "How could I ever refuse those? Just make sure to throw the bill on Hitch and bring an extra container of sauce!"

"It's a done deal."

As Marco had said earlier, almost everywhere was empty. A few college students sat at a table, but other than that it was almost deserted. Some tables still needed to be cleaned, though there were more than enough empty spaces if anyone else came in.

At the very back, shielded by some potted plants and sitting next to a large painting, was the table that Ymir and her friends always sat at. A nearly finished pepperoni pizza lay on the table next to some half eaten bread sticks and opened containers of marinara sauce.

"Hey, Ymir!" Sasha waved. There were bits of foods on the side of her mouth, cheeks, and even a bit on the tip of her nose. "Your seat is free as always!"

Ymir pulled the furthest chair out, the one that she always sat at, and plopped down. "You guys didn't eat all the pizza?" She picked up the last soggy piece of pizza. "It's so thoughtful, thinking of little old me."

Hitch snorted. "The pizza's probably cold by now."

"Cold pizza is the best pizza." Ymir took a large bite.

"I agree," Sasha added. She grabbed a half finished bread stick and began to run it around in her container of marinara sauce. "So, where were you? You never responded to our texts."

"Does she ever?" Hannah asked.

Ymir rolled her eyes. "I responded to you before, Hannah."

She raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"Uh," Ymir said. She could picture the moment, though she did not know what month it occurred. "Can I check my phone's history?"

Hannah shook her head. "Whatever, that doesn't matter. So, why were you so late?"

"Yeah," Sasha said. "I was worried about you."

Ymir patted her on the back. "It's good to know that you guys care."

Hitch sighed. "Can you just hurry up and tell us? I was worried that you had actually managed to already get detention."

"Detention? Why, I would never!"

Hitch rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me that my theory is correct."

"Today's your lucky day, but it sure as hell isn't." Ymir placed her half finished slice of pizza down and leaned forward, her elbows propped up on the table. "I decided to volunteer to get some extra credit."

"What?" Hannah asked. "A teacher is giving out extra credit already?"

"More like she's already failing," Hitch responded.

"Hitch, you plan to procrastinate for a living."

"Somebody has to do it."

"What is it?" Sasha asked.

"I'm cleaning out the cages of Professor Zoe's lizards. It's actually kind of cool."

"Oh," Hannah said. "I thought that you meant like writing a paper or making a Powerpoint." Her eyes widened. "So, are their lizards as big as I've heard?"

"Oh yes," Ymir responded. "Professor Zoe has some big lizards. I don't know why they like them so much, but they are cool. Besides, it's better than that year a few years back when they had spiders."

"I thought that was just a school rumor!" Hannah stuck out her tongue. "Okay, we get it, you're working with lizards now. We can discuss it again later, once our food has had time to properly digest itself."

"Suit yourself." Ymir picked up her slice of pizza again.

"It would have been nice if you had told us beforehand." Hitch said. "We were getting worried. Hell, I thought that you had ditched us and had nearly left."

"You have so little faith in me." Ymir took another bite of her pizza, tearing a pepperoni in half. "Was I really gone that long?"

"Yes." Hitch responded.

"Damn, then I really must be late. By now Hannah and Franz have gotten married and had three little babies and a house, Hitch got around to doing her homework, and Sasha ate most of the bread sticks. I sure have missed out on a lot."

Hannah turned red and Hitch shook her head.

"Hey, at least it was long enough to where Sasha didn't eat my slice of pizza."

"I'm really not that hungry any longer." Sasha said.

"That's a first," Ymir replied. "So, where's Connie?"

"He couldn't make it; he had to go to help his dad at his shop."

"Poor guy."

At that moment, Marco appeared in the corner of her eye. She grinned. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon sticks hung in the air, along with the ever present scent of pizza. Her other friends had already finished eating.

Thank you karma and Professor Zoe, Ymir thought. You just got me some free cinnamon sticks.

* * *

It was around eight when Ymir's phone vibrated. She looked up from her calculus worksheet to check to see who it was from.

What does Hannah want at this time of night? Ymir thought, swiping the screen of her phone.

HEY, the beginning of the text read. CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? Ymir responded.

See, Ymir thought, for once I replied to you. A smirk formed on her face, even if Hannah could not get the chance to see it.

She finished the last part of her problem before her phone vibrated once more. Dropping her pencil, she grabbed her phone and turned it on once more.

WHO IS THAT LITTLE BLONDE GIRL YOU'RE ALWAYS HANGING OUT WITH? IS SHE NEW? I HAVEN'T SEEN HER BEFORE.

For a moment, Ymir's fingers hung above her phone's screen, never touching the iPhone's keyboard. She returned to her home screen, and absently looked over her apps, trying to think of some way to reply.

When that didn't work, she did an entire problem before finally picking up her phone and replying. Somehow, Ymir had managed to procrastinate on doing her homework by texting and then procrastinating on texting by doing her homework. She had gone full circle, and surely if Hitch knew she would be impressed.

HER NAME IS KRISTA AND SHE IS NEW. SHE'S PRETTY CUTE.

Ymir placed her phone down and did another problem. Whatever Hannah would do with that information, Ymir did not know.

Her phone vibrated.

SOMEBODY HAS A CRUSH.

I JUST THINK THAT SHE'S CUTE.

She turned off her phone and finished the rest of her paper. If Hannah replied, then Ymir didn't bother to check. She needed to get her worksheet done if she wanted to watch some YouTube videos for a while before going to bed.


End file.
